We're Listening
Kent State supports Ohio’s community and
economic development
by Melissa Edler, '00 Have you ever had one of those days? You know — it begins with spilling coffee on yourself on the way to work, continues with an important computer file suddenly being infected with a virus the day you’re supposed to give it to your boss, and ends with a scraped knee as you trip in the dark when you get home because someone forgot to leave the light on for you. Yet somehow the next morning, you are hopeful and excited about the possibility that today will be better than the last. For Ohioans facing a slow economy and high unemployment rate, it can feel like one of those days far too often. But only if they let it. “Everyone in the area is talking about economic depression, but we need to get the word out about the successes, too,” says Dr. Patricia A. Book, Kent State’s first vice president for regional development. Kent State’s Division of Regional Development was created to leverage the strengths of the university’s eight-campus network in response to the vital education and training needs of Northeast Ohio’s changing economy. Book and her team focus on economic development and strategic partnerships, corporate training and consulting services, continuing education for practicing professionals and adult learners generally, and distance-learning opportunities. “It is our mission, our legacy and our future as a public research university to engage with the needs of Northeast Ohio, because our future as a university is inextricably linked to the future of the region,” says Book. Reaching out The needs of the area are many. According to a 2004 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, 80 million adults (60 percent of working-age adults) do not have a college degree. Ohio ranks 36th in the nation in the number of citizens with college degrees, with only 24.6 percent of the population age 25 years and older having a bachelor’s degree or higher. The state’s unemployment rate is 6.1 percent, compared to the U.S. national rate of 5.2 percent (Ohio Department of Development, Office of Strategic Research). Ohio’s leading industries include manufacturing of iron, steel, motor vehicles, machinery, rubber, plastics and advanced electronics, as well as food processing, information technology, insurance and aerospace/defense. Ohio is ranked third in the nation in manufacturing, an industry experiencing decline in some sectors, yet holding tremendous growth potential in others. “Kent State is reaching out more aggressively to deliver educational opportunities that are critical to advanced innovation and economic development,” says Book, who represents all eight campuses in her university-wide leadership role. Kent State’s eight-campus network— including the Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Kent, Salem, Stark, Trumbull and Tuscarawas campuses — is an extremely effective tool for outreach. “The primary mission of the seven Regional Campuses,” says Dr. Shirley J. Barton, executive dean, Regional Campuses, “is to support area workforce development through applied and technical associate degrees and to provide a liberal arts foundation for all learners.” Barton adds that “the Regional Campuses also offer select bachelor’s and master’s degrees extended from the Kent Campus,” whose mission is more comprehensive and includes graduate education.  | Dr. Patricia Book, Kent State's first vice president for regional development, emphasizes the university's commitment to strong partnerships among higher education, business and industry. Photo by Gary Harwood |
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Kent State’s outreach to business and industry is coordinated through Regional Corporate and Community Services, a new unit in Regional Development that represents all of Kent State’s workforce development units. It provides employers and employees with customized training, organization development consulting, professional development and certification programs, research and evaluation services, and small business training and consulting. “We’re listening,” says Amy Lane, ’85, M.Ed. ’97, executive director of regional corporate and community services. “We’re trying to find out what skills and knowledge employees and employers need so we can be responsive to those needs.”
To do so, Book, Lane and professionals on all the campuses have been meeting with employers and asking them directly about their needs. Recently, Lane met with Donna Marquard, communications director; Chuck Sarka, vice president of human resources; and Germae Fiebelkorn, organization development manager, at ICI Paints in Strongsville. “Some of the areas we are focusing on include organizational culture change and assessing the capabilities of employees through the performance appraisal process,” says Marquard. Part of the outreach process includes making sure the community is aware of what the university can offer. ITEN Industries, a manufacturer of laminated materials, visits Kent State Ashtabula often for Microsoft computer classes, financial management classes, supervisory training, customer service seminars and Six Sigma training. “At first, we didn’t know what was available to us through the university; but since we’ve learned, we have taken full advantage of the resources,” says Diane Miller, administrative assistant to the company owner. Important for many companies is understanding how higher education can be applied in any workplace. “Kent State provides practical education — geared toward the career-minded professional — that can be applied in the daily environment,” says Mark Kaiser, pultrusion product line manager at ITEN Industries. Another significant factor for employers is Kent State’s ability to match training appropriately to the company’s needs. ACRT, an international consulting service and training organization in urban forestry, environmental, natural resource and horticultural sciences, uses the Center for Executive Education and Development (CEED) at the Kent Campus — an outreach partnership between Regional Development and the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management — for supervisory training and to complete statistical analyses for its clients. Besides businesses, Kent State’s outreach offices also work with many health care providers in the area. Pomerene Hospital, a not-for-profit in Millersburg that was honored as a 2005 NorthCoast 99 award-winner, works with the Stark Campus for leadership development. “We’re working on emotional intelligence, a 360-degree feedback tool we use with our leaders,” says Connie Poulton, SPHR, director of human resources. She adds, “It’s a neat process, because it’s all done confidentially online, and the feedback we’ve gotten has been very good.” Continue reading "We're Listening: Kent State supports Ohio's community and economic development".... |
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